Hand Embroidery On Denim – Discover Needle Crafts

I love hand embroidery on denim because it transforms the rather plain fabric into something beautiful that you don’t see every day and many colours look bright and shiny on the dark blue background. Here I embroidered denim fabric which I then sewed into a pair of jeans.

I used very basic embroidery stitches like running stitch and lazy daisy stitch (also known as detached chain stitch). The thread I chose is a silk and rayon mix, it’s very shiny and special looking. I used five different colours and added tiny beads for extra sparkle.

One essential tool I cannot be without is an embroidery hoop. Stretching fabric in an embroidery hoop makes it easier to control the stitches and achieve an even tension.

With tailor’s chalk pencils I marked a small circle as my stitch line and then drew a bigger circle around it to make sure my stitch length for the petals stays even.

How to make the lazy daisy stitch

To make a stitch, secure your thread on the back side of the fabric, using a double knot and come up where you would like to begin. Pull the thread through.

As shown above, insert your needle down into the fabric at A, and make a scooping stitch to bring it to the front at B.

Make sure the thread is looped around the needle when you pull the thread through. Carefully pull the thread all the way through to form a loop like a link in a chain.

To anchor the bottom of the loop, take a small stitch by inserting the needle at the top of the petal as shown above.

Work individual chain stitches around in a circle, anchoring the bottom of each loop with a small stitch and always beginning each chain stitch close to the center of the flower.

I used three different colours for the bigger flower and two colours for the smaller ones.

Finally, I added beads in the middle of the flowers and around them. The pockets are machine sewn onto the fabric and then top stitched by hand with running stitch.

Here you find another of my posts on how to beautify your clothes with embroidery. I have an embroidery pinterest board, you may have a look there for more inspiration.

What I used for this project and where to find it

I used silk art thread from Rajmahal, you can buy it online at sewandso, a shop dedicated to needle crafts.

I chose a dark blue hand woven organic denim fabric from offset warehouse, it’s very beautiful and produced in a cooperative without the use of electricity or harmful dyes. I just recommend buying a bit more than you usually need for a pair of trousers, as it’s quite a narrow width.